For years, BC Opposition Leader Kevin Falcon demanded “red tape” reductions. Under Premier Gordon Campbell, Falcon spent more than two and one-half years as Minister of State for Deregulation. His efforts were supported by right-wing business interests such as the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
In this photo, Falcon received an award from CFIB VP Laura Jones. Ms. Jones spent 27 years with CFIB and the Fraser Institute before she was appointed in 2023 as President and CEO of the Business Council of British Columbia.
Organizations financed by big business welcome deregulation because it is good for profitability. Proponents of regulatory rollbacks use the term ‘red tape’ as part of a marketing strategy. They want voters to assume that most rules and administrative processes are unnecessary and damaging to the broad economy.
There are countless examples of damage resulting from regulatory failures. What citizens should be demanding is effective regulation, not deregulation.
The Brookings Institution, a centrist American think tank says there is danger in limiting independent oversight.
Deregulation could even do more harm than good, creating an uncertain long-term policy environment and undermining public trust. …the hard push toward deregulation is likely to have consequences for public trust, not just in companies, but in government itself...
But the hard push toward deregulation is likely to have consequences for public trust, not just in companies, but in government itself. If the public feels that the government is being run by and for the energy industry, accomplishing many important societal goals—like modernizing infrastructure and preventing the worst impacts of climate change—become much more difficult.
The Danger in Deregulation
Brookings said the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010 resulted from a cascade of failures and new regulations issued in response were an important step toward restoring trust. British Columbia’s Mount Polley disaster was a regulatory failure. England’s Grenfell Tower fire was deadly another breakdown. There are many others.
A potential disaster was written about in New Yorker magazine.
William J. LeMessurier, a leading American structural engineer, had designed the steel skeleton of the 59-storey Citicorp tower. When constructed in the 1970s, it was one of the world’s tallest buildings. Following completion, after questions raised by students, LeMessurier reexamined his design and concluded that changes during construction had made the building vulnerable to high winds.
Contingency plans were made to evacuate the building and surrounding areas if strong winds were forecast before repairs were complete. After retrofitting, Citicorp Center might have been the safest skyscraper in New York City.
The important issue here is that LeMessurier and others did the right things, even though disgrace and personal bankruptcy faced the professionals. As New Yorker author Joseph Morgenstern wrote in 1995:
The crisis at Citicorp Center was noteworthy in another respect. It produced heroes, but no villains; everyone connected with the repairs behaved in exemplary fashion, from Walter Wriston and his Citicorp management team to the officials at the city’s Department of Buildings. The most striking example, of course, was set by LeMessurier, who emerged with his reputation not merely unscathed but enhanced.
Had LeMessurier stayed quiet, thousands may have been killed or injured if the Citicorp building collapsed. What if the engineers and architects placed self-interest over public safety?
Effective regulation and oversight by independent experts is the best way of ensuring the public is protected.
Kevin Falcon may know that, but his record suggests the doesn’t care.
If you find value in posts and dialogue at IN-SIGHTS.CA, please consider financial support. It is a simple process explained HERE.
Categories: Deregulation
in-sights.ca 
on a recent trip up the peace river we took many pictures of hundereds of half burnt log piles and thousands of trees cut from 1 inch to 6 inches left laying around like a thousand pickup sticks-all this trash left will float once the waters of the peace river rise for flooding of site c–the log jams will be huge and moose-elk-deer and every other critter in the peace river valley trying to swim across the rising waters will get caught up in these log jams and drown—this is a repeat of history when williston resivor was flooded as documented in the book -crooked river rats by bernard mckay-in the last four pages of the book it was described as the waters rose hundereds of moose were caught up in these massive log jams and drowned-their rotten bloated carcasses floating for years to come-the stench must have been un-believable-we are about to see this happen again-so much for bc hydros clean energy project–it is no wonder that bc hydro wants to close off the river to all boaters so no one can view this event-i for one intend to film the whole sordid specticle–mark meier-charlie lake bc
LikeLike
It appears Kevin Falcon was first elected as a BC Liberal in 2001, at which time then-premier Gordon Campbell named him Minister of State for Deregulation from June 5, 2001 – January 26, 2004 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Falcon
Presumably Kevin Falcon was involved in bringing the American “Professional Reliance Model” to BC? The Professional Reliance Model (PRM) was enacted in the early 2000s, certainly by 2004. If Kevin Falcon had anything to do with this unmitigated PRM deregulation disaster, then he along with Gordon Campbell have nothing to be proud of. One could document volumes on the horrific, misguided environmental deregulation carnage because of the PRM in BC.
“One of the main reasons the BC Government has not met its mandate to protect and manage its natural resources effectively is the adoption of an inadequate professional reliance model in the BC Natural Resource
Ministries.”
Click to access 2021-12-03%20PRTF_Recommendations_FINAL.pdf
Regarding Falcon and Campbell’s PRM, “A recent report on professional reliance makes it clear that the government’s practice of outsourcing its responsibility to protect natural resources to ‘qualified professionals’ has been a failure.” https://ecojustice.ca/news/professional-reliance-faq/
LikeLiked by 1 person
‘Effective regulation and oversight by independent experts is the best way of ensuring the public is protected.’ The Site C dam disaster on the Peace River is a perfect example of the failure of deregulation of an industry. When the Campbell government removed the analysis of Site C from the BC Utilities Commission it moved the decision making back behind closed cabinet doors where it was in the 60’s and 70’s. Back where industrial and financial influence outweighed public interest.
Now
we are subject to corporate manipulation, corruption, as well as environmental and social impacts that are far higher than any benefit BC will receive.
LikeLike
RanD, you are quite correct that important decisions are made behind closed doors while truly independent experts are excluded. BC Hydro may hire outside consultants, but the utility gets to choose who those people are. If a company is trying hard to justify their actions, they may be sure to hire compliant consultants.
BC’s Legislative Press Gallery members, with few exceptions, ignore the issue of independent effective regulation. Most of the reporting from Victoria aims to maintain genial relations between people employed in “news reporting” and the politicians and senior bureaucrats exercising power.
LikeLike